Graduation Ball
by piiyaya
Summary: How many teen-age tragedies have sprung from first dance? And how many successes of the young can be traced back to a mere graduation ball?


Gahhh. I'm so lazy to type this. R and R! And follow me on tumblr. lovelostlock .tumblr .com. Erase the spaces, not the dots. :)

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><p>Hino Kahoko arrived rather late at the graduation ball. She could hear the school orchestra a block away. She glanced nervously at her brother beside her as the cab turned into the campus. The high school building was all lighted up and she could see the dancing couples through the wide open window.<p>

The cab stopped in front of the school building and Kahoko got out timidly. She stood in the shadow of the cab, trying to make herself inconspicuous, while her brother fussed with his wallet. Her white dress seemed to Kahoko to be glowing in the dark, and the colored lights around the building were hundreds of eyes staring at her. Naoki was taking an incredibly long time paying the driver. Kahoko noticed that several people were looking out of the window and it seemed that they were all gazing at her. She tried to make herself smaller and almost went back into the cab. It seemed an eternity before her brother could pay the driver. Kahoko opened her purse and dipped her hand inside, not knowing what she wanted. At last the cab drove away and Naoki started walking towards the brightly lighted doorway. Kahoko almost collapsed at the sight of her brother walking away. She opened her mouth to call him but closed it again before she could utter a word.

Near the doorway, Naoki looked back and, seeing that she was not following, waved to her impatiently. With heavy feet, Kahoko dragged herself toward her brother. He was frowning and looking at her reproachfully when he held her elbow and guided her towards the doorway.

The blaring music and the bright lights(too bright, Kahoko thought) greeted them as they entered the hall. She blinked her eyes and froze at tthe sight of the strange faces before her. There they were, all in white, all laughing, and they seemed to be all staring at her. She knew they were all her classmates but she could not find a familiar face. They all looked alike, with big staring eyes and wicked grinning mouths. She felt naked under the gazing eyes even as she fingered her thick white flowing dress to be sure that it was there. The layers of petticoat around her legs were suddenly very heavy and her new shoes were blocks of lead weighing her down.

"Well, come on." Kahoko could hear her brother talking to her as in a dream. He was tugging at her elbow. Vaguely, she felt herself being dragged across the ballroom. Her heart was a lump in her throat when she sat on a chair beside the other girls. She barely heard the greetings of welcome or the music that had started to play.

The next moment, somebody was tugging at her hand. She looked up and it was Naoki. He was frowning as if he was about to do something unpleasant. She stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"God, your hands are cold!" her brother exclaimed. "What's the matter with you? You feel like a block of ice?"

The orchestra played on and on, as if it would never stop, and Kahoko felt very tired when the piece was over. As Naoki guided her back to the chair, he whispered, "Don't wrestle with me. Dance." His voice was harsh, and she knew he was dancing with her out of a sense of duty.

Now that everybody was almost dancing, Kahoko felt safe in a corner. She was calm now, and her eyes wandered all over the ballroom that was once her classrooms. The partitions had been torn down and the school building was now one big hall. The chairs were lined up against the walls, and the orchestra was at the farthest end. As she watched the couples moving dreamily on the dance floor, Kahoko wished that she were back home. She didn't want to come here, but her mother had insisted on her going.

On the verge of tears, Kahoko stood up and went to the powder room. She would have gone home were she not afraid to go alone. She dawdled in the powder room as long as she could but she had to go out sometimes, so she went back to her chair. No sooner had she sat down when she felt, rather than saw, that someone was standing before her.

"May I have this dance?" the boy was saying.

Kahoko stood up and apologized, "I don't dance very well."

"Same here," the azure boy said, finding a hard time to smile to give her comfort. He was right. In time at all, they were stepping on each other's toes. Finally, she said.

"Look, let's just sit down and talk, huh."

"Suits me fine," he said. "I'll grab us some sandwiches and soft drinks and we'll go to the garden and talk.

An hour later, Kahoko and the boy were still out in the garden. The sandwiches and the soft drinks had been consumed, and the boy had removed his coat and drapped it over Kahoko's shoulders.

Kahoko was saying, "You never talked to me in the concours, Len. Why?"

"Well, you were rather aloof, and I thought you were snooty or something."

"Am I?"

"Now I know you're not." There was a brief silence, then he turned to her. "Do you have any plans for the vacation?" he asked.

"Nothing. Why did you ask?"

"Well..." he hesitated, "I thought maybe, I could invite you to some place during summer. You know, parties or outings. Or play together in my mother's concert, perhaps."

Kahoko felt like suddenly singing. All her fears were gone. She knew now that she was wanted; that not all people were hostile to her.

"Would you like to go with me, huh? Would you?" Len was asking.

Kahoko closed her eyes. She felt a new life open for her, and **it was a different woman who answered.** "Yes, of course," she answered. "**Yes.**"

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><p>Thanks for reading. I love you. :)<p> 


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